1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to containers and, in particular, to a device for containing and delivering a payload from a container upon opening of the container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Previously, various devices have been proposed for incorporating payloads such as prizes in containers and for maintaining these prizes in positional alignment with orifices of the containers to insure that the prizes are available to a consumer when the containers are opened. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,911,320, 5,056,659, and 5,099,232 issued to Howes describe various devices for containing and delivering prizes or prize announcements from a liquid container. However, one disadvantage of these patented devices is that they require special attachment to a non-standard container lid which results in complexity, expense, and possible premature detection. Another disadvantage of these patented devices is that they preclude the delivery of the actual liquid product which the consumer is attempting to purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,158 issued to Plester describes a prize delivery device which is adapted to a standard beverage can and which enables some or possibly all of the actual liquid product to be dispensed from the beverage can. To maintain alignment with the can lid's orifice, however, portions of the device must be expanded outwardly against the interior surfaces of the can side walls.
One disadvantage of the above patented prize delivery device is that the effectiveness in maintaining alignment depends on the device's ability to firmly grip the interior surfaces of the can's side walls which are smooth and cylindrical and have no protrusions or recesses to mechanically lock the device in position. During the can lid-sealing process, during transport to the point of sale and when rolling along the guide channels of a vending machine or in-store refrigeration case, the can is subjected to gravitational, centrifugal, and vibratory forces which may overcome the prize delivery device's grip of the smooth interior can surfaces and thus cause the device to rotate out of its preset alignment with the orifice. Once out of alignment, the prize may not be noticeable when the consumer opens the can, or it may impede the flow of the liquid product out of the can.
Another disadvantage of this patented prize delivery device exists if the device is manufactured from materials like plastic whose coefficients of thermal contraction are greater than those of the standard aluminum or steel materials currently used for the cans. Hence, the pressure against the can's interior side walls exerted by the expandable portions of the device will lessen whenever the can is chilled--thereby increasing the risk of the device becoming misaligned to the orifice.
Yet another disadvantage of this patented prize delivery device exists when capillary forces in the liquid near the grips of the device and the interior side walls of the can change during aging and/or normal temperature cycling of the liquid product, and thereby weaken the adhesion strength of the grips against the interior side walls of the can.
A further disadvantage of this patented prize delivery device exists because its presence may be detectable by consumers prior to opening the can. The movable portions of the device are not latched or otherwise secured against motion prior to the opening of the can. Therefore, a consumer who inverts or shakes the can may detect the presence of the device by an audible sound it produces as its moving vial or vial-flange collides with other portions of the device. Detection is further risked because the device expands outwardly against the can side walls which are thin and may therefore enable the consumer to detect the device inside by squeezing the side walls from the exterior or by tapping the sidewalls and listening for a damped, less resonant sound than that produced by tapping a non-prize bearing can.
Yet a further disadvantage of this patented prize delivery device results from a flange and protrusion which are attached to its prize-holding vial. In the event the vial is assembled in an inverted position, the device will neither deliver the prize nor permit the consumer to fully open the can.
Still a further disadvantage of this patented prize delivery device results from its prize holding vial being unsecured. When the can is opened and its closure tab is deflected downward into the can interior, the closure tab must push a buoyant, freely-bobbing prizeholding vial downward in order for the tab to complete its arc of travel and end at a point which does not obstruct the upward buoyant travel of the vial. Because the vial is not secured, it is constantly bobbing against the sharp edges of the traveling closure tab which may result in its becoming wedged against the closure tab in which case the closure tab would not fully open and the vial would not float out through the orifice in the top of the can.
Additional disadvantages of this patented prize delivery device exist in the total number of component parts of the device, in the resulting complexity of the components and of their assembly method, in the narrow manufacturing tolerances required, and in the device's volumetric displacement which may prohibit the can from being filled with its normal amount of liquid.